This article describes compulsory admissions in the intramural institutes for addiction care for the period 1997-1998. By means of a survey study the number of involuntary admissions was investigated as well as the factors that influence this number according to treatment professionals. Only 0,28% of the total admissions to these institutes was involuntary on the basis of civil law. A lack of facilities and referrals to psychiatric institutes were most frequently mentioned as possible reasons for not using the civil law for involuntary psychiatric hospital admissions. The question is posed if the pressure from Dutch civil law to enter and stay in treatment could be an additional treatment option for addicts in a comparable fashion as in general psychiatry.